tony
adjective
high-toned; stylish.
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tonier.
tony
1 American
[toh-nee]
/ ˈtoʊ ni /
adjective
Informal.
tonier,
toniest
Tony
2
American
[toh-nee]
/ ˈtoʊ ni /
noun
-
Tonys
plural
Tony
3
American
[toh-nee]
/ ˈtoʊ ni /
Tony
1
British
/ ˈtəʊnɪ /
noun
tony
2
British
/ ˈtəʊnɪ /
adjective
Usage
What is a Tony? A Tony is an annual award given by the American Theatre Wing (ATW) for excellence in theater production. The Tony award is a black statuette featuring a suspended medallion with the image of the comedy and tragedy mask and the winner’s name, category, and winning year engraved on it. The awards are given out at the Tony Awards ceremony, also known as the Tonys. The Tonys are a televised ceremonial event that features celebrity hosts, musical performances, and Broadway announcements. Typically, the event is seen as one of the most important nights in the theater industry because it gathers many of its most talented performers, directors, and production crews.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of tony1
An Americanism dating back to 1875–80; tone + -y 1
Origin of Tony2
After the nickname of Antoinette Perry
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
With his elevated speech, tony air and throwback attire, he’s like someone from another era; you could see him as one of Jay Gatsby’s pals or a bon vivant who drops by on “Downton Abbey.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026
Mastrangelo ultimately found a sublet: She will be spending $2,520 for a bedroom and private bath in a woman’s house in the tony neighborhood of Russian Hill.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026
Now, there has been what he called a “very suspicious fire” in a building in the neighborhood’s tony Highlands where he maintained an office for his crystals company.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 13, 2026
The expansive Spanish-style abode is located in the tony Spanish Oaks community of the Texas city and offered four bedrooms and 3.5 bathrooms, as well as just over one acre of land.
From MarketWatch ● May 1, 2026
“Curiosity. Or perhaps envy. We’re clearly dressed for an important party. We do look rather tony, don’t we, Marion?”
From "The Bletchley Riddle" by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin
Within a few years, he co-produced “Hadestown” on Broadway, which won a Tony Award.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 19, 2026
The new rules were revealed by Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke who said that while immigration was a "strength" of Australia, there needed to be a "high level of control".
From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026
José Rivera’s “Marisol” came out around the same time as Tony Kushner’s “Angels in America,” and both plays, vibrating with millennial anxieties, carry the earthly battle for human survival up to the heavens.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 17, 2026
If eating a bowl of Frosted Flakes in the company of Tony the Tiger is one of your fondest childhood memories, then you already know everything you need to know about the breakfast-cereal business.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026
Carmen and her pal Tony were heading back from school, making their way through the noisy streets of their neighborhood, Boston’s North End.
From "I Survived the Great Molasses Flood, 1919" by Lauren Tarshis
“I was in New York for the Tonys, and some of the people in ‘Jellicle Ball,’ ... had competed on ‘Dance Crew.’
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 31, 2026
This year’s opening number, a show-stopping Tonys tradition, will feature more than 170 Broadway performers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 5, 2026
When “My Fair Lady” with Lauren Ambrose was at Lincoln Center in 2018, the Tonys prompted me to attend what turned out to be one of the great theater experiences of my life.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 4, 2026
Liza Minnelli, 79, is an actress, singer and dancer who won an Oscar for her role in the 1972 film “Cabaret” and has also received four Tonys, an Emmy and an honorary Grammy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 10, 2026
We can't go on living here, and the Tonys will be home just as Tim's leave's up, and they're sure to leave their Bits behind.
From A Crooked Mile by Oliver [pseud.] Onions
Even after a post-fire decline, the average Altadena home value is currently about $1.15 million, according to Zillow, roughly a third the value of average homes in the mostly tonier Palisades.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2025
But a tonier environment did not equal greater comfort.
From New York Times ● Apr. 19, 2023
Those that did fill up were all in tonier neighborhoods such as Tarzana, Beverlywood and Fairfax.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 23, 2023
Because of the lower property values, even the tonier areas of St. Bernard got less of their damages covered.
From Salon ● Dec. 13, 2022
Entranced, Weller swan-dove headlong into the heart of Ferry’s unwritten sophisti-pop syllabus with airs that were tonier, goofier and made for extraordinarily easier listening than anything the Jam would’ve deigned to do.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 20, 2020
The borough of Westminster, home to some of London’s toniest neighborhoods, said in a 2023 report that it sought to collect payment on 13,423 tickets issued to United Arab Emirates vehicles between 2018 and 2022.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026
The State Farm move affects some of the county’s toniest neighborhoods — adding another layer of expense and financial risk for homeowners in areas that were already costly and imperiled by wildfires.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 10, 2024
MIAMI—For nearly 2 years, bustling teams of archaeologists—totaling more than 120 researchers on some days—have excavated a sprawling waterfront lot here in one of this seaside city’s toniest neighborhoods.
From Science Magazine ● Apr. 10, 2023
He has described how his parents saved to send him to Winchester College, one of Britain’s toniest and most expensive boarding schools.
From Washington Times ● Oct. 24, 2022
But it was only the most toniest people who did that kind of a trick.
From Olof Krarer, The Esquimaux Lady A story of her native home by Olof Krarer
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
